Marriage

Love can blossom in even the deepest tundras and war-torn areas of Skyrim -- you only need to know where to look. In order to show that you are open to romance, you must wear the Amulet of Mara. This necklace opens up extra dialogue with viable suitors. The general rule of thumb: If you help people out, they're more inclined to like you.

Equip the amulet and speak to an NPC that has expressed some sort of interest in you. There are obvious verbal cues, such as "It's a nice day when you're around." Or you can also check out the full list of Marriage Partners.

If there is a relationship to foster, you’ll get the extra dialogue option asking the person whether he or she is interested in you. Accept this crude and elementary portrayal of love and the elated person will urge you to set up the wedding ceremony forthwith!

Speak to Maramal at the Temple of Mara about arranging your wedding. The time to the start of the ceremony is approximately 24 hours from the hour you first initiate the wedding preparations. It’s recommended that you stay at the Temple of Mara to avoid standing up your to-be spouse. Once the knot has been tied, you’ll earn the Achievement/Trophy Married.

Establish a place of residence for your new family. Your spouse (whether or not he or she is a store owner) gives you 100 gold and a homecooked meal once per day upon request.

Even if you don't set foot in the house where your lover stays for a while, the amount of gold she/he gives you will mount up, creating a nice hefty sum to add to your pocket.

Additionally, sleeping in the same house as your spouse gives you the "Lover's Comfort" resting bonus, which increases the speed at which you gain skill experience by 15% for 8 hours. Finally, if you so wish, you may ask certain partners to become a Follower, even if they would not normally be available as one.

For good or bad there is a way to back out of your marriage in case you find a more suitable partner or got stuck with coyote ugly because you needed a place to couch surf. "Till death do us part," yep, you guessed it, if you *ahem* kill your spouse (preferably inside your house to avoid bounty) then you can re-equip the amulet and go searching for another lover, you serial killer you.

One of the most common glitches during weddings is when your dead follower's corpse appears as your fiancee and your guests appear in the Temple of Mara, failing the ceremony instantly (and with everyone, including the priest, pissed at you). Reloading or relaunching the game won't help.

To get around this, you must rest/sleep for at least 24 hours, talk to your fiancee again to "start over" then talk to Maramal again to arrange your marriage. The ceremony should go through without any issues after doing this.

As of patch version 1.2, the "corpse" bug should be fixed, but it has been reported that it still occurs.